A native and lifelong resident of Wakefield, Mr. Shannon for many years has been one of its leading and most highly respected business men. After acquiring his initial business experience by association for almost fifteen years in the retail shoe business with his father, he established himself in the insurance business, in which he has since continued with marked success. He has the distinction of being the only man in Wakefield who devotes all of his activities to the insurance business. Naturally his standing in the community, both as a business man and as a citizen, is of the highest, and in every respect he is regarded as one of the most representative and substantial citizens of Wakefield.
Walter E. Shannon was born at Wakefield, February 23, 1886, a son of Daniel W. and Sophina (Blanchard) Shannon. His father, who was born at Southampton, England, has been engaged in the retail shoe business at Wakefield since 1884 and is the oldest merchant in Wakefield in respect to continuous ownership of one business. Mr. Shannon’s mother, who was born at Burrillville, is now deceased. Educated in the public grammar and high schools of South Kingstown, Mr. Shannon in 1903, became associated with his father in the latter’s retail shoe store. He continued in this business as a partner of his father until 1916 , when he entered the insurance business. His industry and pleasing personality have enabled him to make a great success of his insurance business and he is today one of the best known and most successful insurance men, not only in Wakefield, but throughout this section of Rhode Island. In recent years his offices have been located in the Bell Block, Wakefield. He is a member of the National Association of Insurance Agents, the Rhode Island Association of Insurance Agents, and the Colonial Club of Westerly. Since 1928 he has served very effectively as building inspector of the town of Wakefield and as chief of the Union Fire District. During the World War he was a member of the Rhode Island State Guard. In politics he is an independent, while his religious affiliation is with the Peace Dale Congregational Church. He is very fond of reading, and much of his leisure time is devoted to this form of recreation.
Mr. Shannon married, in 1910, Esther B. Taylor, a native of East Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Shannon have no children and make their home at Wakefield.
Source: Carroll, Charles. Rhode Island: Three Centuries of Democracy, vol 3 of 4. New York: Lewis historical Pub. Co., 1932.